Nunavut Fact Sheet

The Transition Home Survey is conducted on a biennial basis as part of the federal government's Family Violence Initiative. The 2003/04 questionnaire was sent to 543 shelters in Canada known to be providing residential services for women victims of abuse and their children. Responses were received from 473 shelters (87%).

The questionnaire was sent to 6 facilities in Nunavut and responses were received from 3 (50%) of the shelters.

There were 906 admissions of women and dependant children reported from April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004.¹

A profile of residents, April 14, 2004²

In a snapshot taken on April 14, 2004 , there were 25 residents in shelters in Nunavut : 56% (14) were women and 44% (11) were dependant children.

All of the women residing in shelters on April 14, 2004 , were victims of abuse: 12 were fleeing psychological abuse, 9 physical abuse, 4 sexual abuse and 1 was fleeing financial abuse.³

Half (7) of the women escaping abusive situations were admitted with their children.⁴

86% (12) of abused women indicated that their spouse or partner was the abuser. The remaining women were abused by a former spouse or partner, or by a relative.

For women residing in shelters on April 14 th , 2004 , self-referrals (64%) were the most common sources of referral. 29% of referrals came from other unspecified sources.⁵

12 of the women residing in shelters on April 14, 2004 , had been there before.⁶

43% (6) of abused women had reported police intervention for the most recent violent incident to police and in 67% (4) of these reported cases charges were laid against the abuser.

A profile of shelters, 2003/04

All of the shelters served urban/suburban populations.

Two-thirds of shelters offered the following in-house services to women residents: individual short-term counselling, housing referral, advocacy, culturally sensitive services for Aboriginal women, culturally sensitive services for ethno-cultural and visible minority women and services for women with disabilities.

Facilities also provided in-house services to non-resident women in need of assistance. The following services were provided by two-thirds of shelters: individual long-term counselling, addiction counselling and crisis telephone lines.

In-house services offered to resident children included child protection or family services (67%), as well as the following provided by one-in-three shelters: culturally sensitive services for Aboriginal children, babysitting, indoor and outdoor recreation spaces.

Two-thirds of shelters reported at least one building entrance that was wheelchair accessible and having bedrooms that were wheelchair accessible. One-third reported having bathrooms that were wheelchair accessible. One-third offered services to people who are blind or visually impaired.

3 facilities reported providing a total of 50 outreach⁷ hours per week.

Footnotes

1. The precise reporting period may vary. Shelters were asked to provide information for the twelve-month period ending March 31, 2004 or their own twelve month fiscal period.

2. No women departed on snapshot day.

3. Figures do not add to the total number of women in shelters for abuse due to multiple responses.

4. The age of the 11 children in Nunavut shelters on snapshot day was unknown.

5. Totals do not add to 100% due to multiple responses.

6. The number of times a repeat client had been to the shelter previously was unknown for the majority (92%) of clients.

7. Outreach work included supplying information, accompanying victims to court, meeting with clients to discuss possibilities/options, and participating in drop-in centres. While shelters varied in the number of hours of outreach provided, the territorial average was 17 hours per week.